Cheteshwar Pujara is as good as Virat Kohli, claims Sourav Ganguly

Former skipper of Indian cricket team, Sourav Ganguly said Cheteshwar Pujara is equally good as Virat Kohli and is someone who goes unnoticed, while addressing a gathering during the launch of his memoir ‘A Century Is Not Enough’ in Kolkata on Wednesday.

"Along with Virat Kohli in this team Pujara's record is as good as anybody. He's from that old school of cricket where he will grind you, and win you matches but he goes unnoticed," Ganguly said.

The cricket legend heaped praise on Pujara, “He (Pujara) is as important to this Test team as Virat Kohli. But sometimes he goes unnoticed. Look at his Test records, after 57 Tests, he has 14 hundred."

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Pujara was not picked up by any team for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) and the batsman will use the free time to nurture his skills at Yorkshire for a second county stint.

"I still prefer to play in the old school, spend a lot of time at the crease, read situation and then start scoring runs," Pujara said. Pujara added that he is trying to evolve his game to meet the demands of the limited overs cricket. "To get myself better in one-dayers and T20s, I also started playing lofted shots. Before five-six years, I never used to play any lofted shots.”

Sourav Ganguly’s former teammates, Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman, two architects of the 2001 Test victory at Eden Gardens also attended the programme. "This book would never happen if it was not for the 2001 Test and the Pakistan series (2003-04)."

Harbhajan credited Ganguly for everything he has achieved and said, "If Dada was not my captain, I would not have been here. You need a big-hearted captain to make a bowler.”